HALTON is well-equipped to deal with a major industrial accident, according the to an expert at the heart of Britain's emergency planning system.

Runcorn's Dr Brian Ward is head of Chemical, Biological, Radiological and Nuclear (CBRN) for the North East, York-shire and Humberside.

In his senior role as regional manager, he has praised the skill and courage of the emergency services in tackling the Bunce-field oil fire.

Fifty-year-old Dr Ward said they had 'fought tirelessly' to ensure the Hemel Hempstead refinery blaze was kept under control. He described the blast scene as 'quite horrific' and said it was 'absolutely amazing' nobody was killed.

'There were only two injuries and for that to happen is extremely fortunate as the scenes were unbelievable,' he said.

'The main thing that we have got from the Buncefield oil depot fire is how well all the emergency services and agencies worked together.

'The police, the fire service, the local authority, the ambulance service, Thames Water and the Health and Safety Executive all worked in unison.

'We were on a big team and I am very pleased to say that I was a part of that. We have highly qualified, highly professional firefighters and they were all tested but came through it incredibly well.

'The blaze was massive and for all the these bodies to work together to put out the fire and see to the aftermath is one phenomenal effort.'

In the wake of the fire, questions have been asked about whether the emergency services in Cheshire would be up to the task of dealing with an incident as big as Buncefield at chemical manufacturing sites such as Ineos Chlor.

But Dr Ward has moved quickly to dispel such anxieties.

He said: 'If something of this nature and scale occurred closer to home in Stanlow or even Ineos, which is a similar size to Buncefield, I'm confident that the response would have been the same.

'All the services and agencies worked together at Buncefield and they would do the same in Cheshire and I have no doubt of that. Ineos is a big place but they have very strict and stringent safety measures in place and they would be well prepared for anything like this.'

The blaze is regarded as the largest industrial fire in peacetime Europe and Dr Ward said he would be spending the festive period in southern England.

'We are focusing on the clean-up operation and making sure that the water is not contaminated,' he said.

'The HSE will now conduct an investigation into why it happened but it will take anything up to 12 months to clean up. There is concern down here, which is understandable, but everyone is working very hard to support and protect the people.'

This incident is not the first time Dr Ward has been called into action. He headed the team which dealt with the floods in Carlisle in November 2004 and was heavily involved in the response of the emergency services in the wake of the July 7 terror attacks on London.

During the Hemel Hempstead fire, the fire service had to use 1.5m litres of water and hour to extinguish the flames, pumping 750 litres of water back out for recycling.

At the Buncefield oil depot, fire crews used 30km of hose reel and 14 special appliances which are the equivalent of 60-70 fire engines.